


I Shall Rise (Again and Again)

by amazingjemma



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Adventures, Angst, F/M, Maveth - Freeform, Tomb Raider AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-19 11:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7359601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amazingjemma/pseuds/amazingjemma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A famous explorer once said, that the extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are. I'd finally set out to make my mark; to find adventure. But instead adventure found me."</p><p>[loosely based on 'tomb raider: reborn' and 'rise of the tomb raider' video games.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo I'm kinda back. This fic is inspired by my childhood hero and woman I absolutely admire - Lara Croft. And this is how the idea was born.
> 
> Betad by amazing SuperIrishBreakfastTea.

Jemma Simmons leans forward for a better view of the old book she's reading. Or rather trying to read. She's not really good at Gaelic but with the help of ten dictionaries, she's translated two pages so far.

 

She'd found this book while she was in Scotland, searching for the artifact in question. The old book was dusty, a little bit torn and stale but it was one of the most precious things Jemma Simmons ever found. After all these traumas and risks she took being in Scotland, she won't give up. She can't give up. This book is infamous for its “curse” but Jemma isn't a believer of this theory. Her father was, though. Step-father, actually. Phillip Coulson was famous for his biggest discovery of underground town, buried a few thousand years ago. Who cares that they almost died? Who cares how many sacrifices were made during the exploration of the city? Who cares that Phillip Coulson lost his hand, trying to protect his people? The discovery was made, and Jemma decided to continue her father's job since he can't do it anymore with one hand. The legacy must be continued, she said to her father when he tried to dissuade her from choosing this tough and dangerous path.

 

Leo Fitz tries his best not to get lost in this big and dark mansion. All of the rooms were closed and empty, except for Coulson's big old office, filled with with ancient books and papyrus. Taking a deep tiring breath, he slowly enters the office and smiled. The sight of Jemma Simmons – his fiance – makes him both happy and sad. She's been there since dinner, but the sudden disappearances of his girl didn't bother Fitz any more. He got used to her being busy and sometimes even angry, when she couldn't translate this or that old book. He doesn’t try to distract her and waits patiently in their bedroom or in the garden, where Jemma liked meditating.

 

“It's past midnight and you're still working”, he said softly, not to startle her. Jemma scoffed and fixed eyeglasses.

 

“The book won't translate itself, right?” There wasn't annoyance in her voice. She once snapped at him for his mention of her workaholism. They hadn’t talked for two days after that. “And I am very much determined to finish this, you know?” She looks up and smiles sweetly, making Fitz laugh.

 

“Dunno, Jem”, the man approaches her and stands behind the chair Jemma sits in. She immediately closes the book and turned around to face her boyfriend. “Whoa, secrets? Again? How classified is this?”

 

“That's not... classified”, Jemma cringes. “I just... it's nothing. Nothing you should be worried about. Really. It's just... a book. A book with ancient sayings. Okay? It's, um...”

 

“Just don't try to lie anymore”, Fitz sighs. “Show me. And don't make these Bambi doe eyes at me. What's in this book?”

 

Jemma stares at Fitz for a few seconds but then rolled her eyes and muttured 'okay, fine'. As soon as she opened the book, Fitz swore under his breath.

“Gaelic? Really? You're trying to translate this?” Fitz sounds a bit offended. He's Scottish, after all, and could help her if she ever asked for help. “Why haven't you called me?”

 

“Because this is bullshit! It doesn't make any sense!” Jemma hisses aggressively and stands up, throwing her hands I the air. “I don't get it! And I didn't want to call you because...”

 

“Because _and when people find this city, the demons will be unleashed and the universe's curse will be as lethal as the end of the world_?” Fitz quotes, staring at her neat handwriting. 

 

“Told you, this is bullshit”, Jemma said more calmly. “Do you really believe in curses? Cause I don't.”

 

“I actually do, sometimes', Fitz barked. “When you're god knows where, with no help, no food, no equipment, trying to survive alone. That's when I'm thinking that the cosmos wants us to be apart.”

 

Jemma rolled her eyes. “The cosmos doesn't want anything. You're being dramatic.”

 

“You translated that yourself!”

 

“There must be a mistake in translation, Fitz, I don't speak Gaelic! And the dictionaries are not always right!”

 

They were staring at each other for two minutes, communicating without words. It's become their kind of habit, where they couldn't say anything out loud, but still understood each other. It’s Fitz who gives up first. 

 

“Show me the book.”

 

Taking a deep breath through her nostrils, Jemma slowly opened the book at the page she stopped translating. Fitz sat down and flipped through the book lazily, but then returned to the previous page. “This book looks like a collection of predictions or something”, he finally announced, glancing at Jemma. “Look, this one is about an illness which destroys people's lives, who'll be suffering till the very end. It's either about plague or cancer. The piece you're trying to translate is about some desert, which is actually nowhere to be found. But this piece – it's about the  _moon turning blue above sands, covering it for two centuries in the color of death_ .”

 

“Maveth”, Jemma breathes. “It's Maveth! My dad was telling me about it when I was a little kid”. She unceremoniously sits down on Fitz's lap, opening the browser on her laptop and quckly typing in her request. 

 

“Maveth is such an old desert, I can't believe I can actually find it myself!” Jemma was nearly jumping with excitement. “It's been centuries, Fitz! Centuries! People couldn't find the desert because there weren't blue moons for centuries! Oh my god.”

 

Fitz watches Jemma on his lap and can't believe that was actually going on. The pictures of the desert were terrifying. Beautiful, definitely, but also terrifying. At the thought of Jemma being there alone - again - made him tight his grip on her waist. Last time her journey ended in CPR, barely breathing but alive. More than two months in China's Hunan province nearly killed his fiancee. When she came to after, they had explicitly agreed that she wouldn't go anywhere alone anymore. Fitz may be just an engineer, but even with that, he can be useful to Jemma during her adventure.

 

“I want to go there.”

 

Her voice brought Leo from his reverie and his head snaps to stare at her, who stares back at him with wide hazel eyes.

 

“Jemma...”

 

“No, Fitz, listen! I should go there. I just know this. This is my first major discovery!” Jemma stands up and starts pacing around the office, curling her hands into fists. “You know how much it means it to me. How much it means for my dad. I want him to be proud of me!”

 

“Jemma, I know this”, Fitz says softly. “I know you want to make a discovery but this is... this is a suicide mission. I don't want to receive a call that your breathless body was found god knows where.”

 

“It won't be like that this time”, Jemma keeps insisting. “I know this is it. The discovery has to be made, and you know that! You told me that yourself. You told me you'd support every idea I have and now... I want support from you, _Leo. Please_.”

 

His heart clenched when she called him by his first name. Jemma rarely calls him that, only when she’s angry at him or in bedroom, but now... 

 

Fitz closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Fine”, he concedes, finally giving up. “But this time, we'll tell your father where you are. I really don't want to spoil our relationships you know? Your father can be very... terrifying.”

 

With a shriek Jemma jumps at Fitz and embraceshim tightly, kissing his check. “It's gonna be legendary, Fitz. I'll make you be proud of me, too.”

 

“I'm already proud of you”, Fitz grins, patting her back gently. “There's no way I wouldn't be proud of my bride-to-be.”

 

Jemma giggles and nuzzles his neck. “We're gonna get marry after I come back. We can't waste anymore time.”

 

“I completely agree. Especially when I've got something magnificent right here.”

 

He puts Jemma down, watching her literally shining with love and affection. She's leaving soon, so he should cherish every moment he spends with her, memorizing her smile and the way her eyes shine like diamonds when he's complimenting her. And of course Jemma doesn't notice sly grin.

 

“I mean, the book. With ancient predictions. One of my the most precious possessions, if you ask me.”

 

Jemma lets out a laugh and hits him slightly on the shoulder. She knows he's trying to be supportive and lighten up the atmosphere and she can't be more thankful. Without any words, she stands on her tiptoes and kisses him gently, tugging him out of the office. She's leaving tomorrow and who knows when—or if—she’ll come back. So she decides to embrace her chance and spend the last ten hours with the man she loves.

 

On the next day, however, Fitz regrets his decision to let Jemma go. He knows she’ll be careful; she always is. But something deep inside tells him he should join her.. The fear of losing her is like a bell, which keeps ringing and ringing in his head and heart. Jemma doesn’t seem worried at all, excitement and hunger for adventure are shining in her hazel eyes when she says goodbye to her adoptive father. She tells him about the desert briskly and Phil hugs her for the last time, wishing her best of luck. 

 

But just when she approaches Fitz, her smile fades. Fitz says nothing and hugs her tightly, breathing in the smell of her shampoo. Somehow they know that there are no words to say, at least not yet, so they decide to have it as a silent goodbye. When Jemma pulls away, she takes his face in her cold hands and tries to smile reassuringly. She knows Leo won't believe her smile, he can read her as a book, but somehow he doesn't say this. Instead, he places a light kiss on her forehead and lets her go, watching her back with her father by his side.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again :) 
> 
> I will be honest, because, I think I'll have struggles with writing this, but anyways, here's the second chapter cause today is my birthday and there are people who read this story. Thank you very much <3

During the ride Jemma's mostly silent. Her driver – a mysterious man named Ward – doesn't speak as well, but keeps checking on her from time to time. He may be a creep, but Ward was the only one who agreed to make a company for her to Maveth desert. It looks like the desert doesn't have a really good reputation. As soon as other men heard Jemma's place of destination, they started yelling and moved away from her as if she's the source of the plague. Their behavior would definitely scare away most people, but Jemma Simmons isn’t most people.

 

“Have you ever been to Maveth?” Jemma finally asks, turning her head to Ward.

 

The man shrugs. “I have.”

 

“Oh, really?” Jemma's voice rises one octave higher. “So, what's so special about this place?”

 

Ward chuckles, returning his attention to the road. “It depends on what you're interested in.”

 

Jemma bites her lip and glances at the bag on her lap, clutching the straps of it tightly. Ward is a shady person, someone who Jemma doesn’t trust. But he was the only person who agreed to help her and he even may know something about the mysterious desert. Weighing pros and cons, Jemma decides to trust this guy. Even for one trip. In case something happens, she always can offer him more money. She finds that most people in her line of work become far more loyal with a bigger sum of money in their hands.

 

“Something what's supposed to destroy our world”, she mutters and gets the book from her bag, patting it with her fingertips. She then looks at Ward and notices his clenched jaw and hands on the steering wheel.

 

“What exactly do you want to know?”

 

“The book says that demons will be unleashed after people find this desert”, Jemma opens the book and finds her papers with translations. “The blue moon. Is it even real? I know it's been centuries after the last blue moon, but... anything in the city's archives? Any witnesses?”

 

Ward took a deep breath, making the young discoverer nervous. She’s strange, he thinks. Weird, definitely, if she wants to go to Maveth – of all places, really. He somehow knows that there must be something worth finding. He's been dreaming of visiting Maveth too, after all. All these years, waiting and considering, comparing facts and collecting opinions, he finally found someone who would join him in visiting the desert. Someone who he knows might die, if the stories in his journal were real.

 

“People who have been there saw nothing but death”, Ward finally says. “Their stories ended with one word.”

 

“What's the word?”

 

Ward rolls his eyes at Jemma's stubbornness. “I told you this already. Death.”

 

“Well, you can't see death”, Simmons scoffs. “That’s just impossible. Death is something invisible, without a face or figure. It's not flesh and bones, it's...”

 

“Dust and wind?” Ward offers.

 

“Yeah, something like that. In my source, the last thing people saw was a sand storm and then...”

 

“And then the figure appears? It seems like we both we’re studying the same sources, Simmons.”

 

Ward's face changes and Jemma's breath hitches. Something about this man is dangerous. He seems pretty calm, driving through the desert, right to their destination. Even Jemma, being an infamous tomb raider for her attempts to find old treasures, isn't confident in what she’s doing this time. She should have gone with Fitz. It would be much easier, and safer, of course. It's not like she can trust strangers who agree willingly to go with you to an actual place called death.

 

Jemma clutches her book closer, million of thoughts flashing in her brain. This is a mistake. A suicide journey, like Fitz said. Something that may change their lives, and the world as they know it, altogether. Something tells her that this change can be lethal, just like in the book. Jemma Simmons may not trust dark and shady people, but she trusts her sixth sense and resources, and history, and facts. Having medical and history degrees has helped her in her previous trips, when she was as lost and scared as she is right now.

 

“You're married?” Ward's voice startles Jemma a bit and she glances at her ring, a smile appearing on her face.

 

“No, engaged. We're planning to marry when I'm back. This is my second trip alone”, she admits, scrunching her nose.

 

“How come? A beautiful woman travelling alone”, Ward bows his head, looking at her with a smirk on his lips. “It sounds like the beginning of some tragic story.”

 

“He and I are both agreed on this, because we're both looking for answers”, Jemma replies, smiling sweetly in return. “Plus, he'd be a great distraction while I'm digging the tombs and graves and studying cold dead corpses.”

 

Ward scoffs and finally stops, unbuckling the seat belt. Jemma quickly follows suit and gathers her belonging in her bag, leaving the car.

 

The desert is definitely forboding, long forgotten by people who were scared of getting closer even for a few meters. There is nothing but sand and a soft breeze, making Jemma wonder if this is the place they were looking for.

 

“Are you sure we're exactly where we should be?” She turns around and calls for Ward who is looking at something in his hands.

 

“No. We'll be going for a few miles now. It's going to be tough for driving a car where we should be.”

 

“Walking”, Jemma mumbled, following Ward's figure. “Bloody magnificent. Exactly what I was waiting for.”

 

After a few hours – one, or even two – Jemma is exhausted. Ward seems as if he is tired is well, but he keeps going with the force of his SUV. Unstoppable and determined. The sun is going down though, and Simmons is quite excited about the Blue Moon. She checks her phone a few times in case Fitz has found something interesting – but she is greeted with an empty screen of her phone.

 

“Ward?” She calls out, stopping in her tracks to have a rest. “Can we take a break? We've been walking for almost half an hour. We shouldn't waste stamina just walking. Let's eat and take a nap, at least.”

 

No matter how hard Ward wants to find the place, he has to agree with the woman. It's been a long walk and they are both worn out and achingly exhausted. The sun burns their skin and their legs are crying for a little rest. So, Ward joined Simmons on her improvised cot, taking a bottle of water out of her dirty hands.

 

“I'll be damned if we won't find anything”, Jemma says softly, waving her papers to cool down.

 

“We're almost there”, Ward assures her, cheering her up a little. “We can't give up now. We're almost there.”

 

“Why do _you_ want to find this place?” Simmons suddenly realizes that she never asked Ward about his motives. Why he was the one who joined her? What is he was hiding behind his dark brown eyes? What else does he know about the place and the curses? Why does he keep looking at her book as if he wants to rip out if off her hands? “What's driving you?”

 

“History”, the man answers immediately, looking annoyed. “I don't care about the discoveries. I want to know the history of this place and why people were determined to escape it. Because the history must be continued and Maveth needs to be remembered, in books and stories other than that one you have with you..”

 

“You know more than you're saying”, Jemma says simply. “You're driven by something else.”

 

Ward takes a deep breath and shakes his head. He promised to take her to the exact point of her destination, but now he regrets his decision. Jemma Simmons clearly doesn’t know what she’s doing. 

 

“I think we need to go separately from here”, Ward grumbles, standing up. “I'm not going to waste my precious time for this.”

 

“Are you... are you serious?!” Jemma jumps from her place on the sand, watching Ward gathering his backpack and leaving. “What the... you promised you'd take me there! We agreed and I pai you! Don't you dare leave me!”

 

“Sorry! Already left!” Ward yells, waving at the angry woman behind his back.

 

Jemma roars in frustration and turns around, looking at her surroundings. Just perfect. A completely empty desert, with no place to hide in case something bad happens. Just when she turns around, there's no sight of Ward anymore and Simmons sinks down on the sand, face in her hands. She's been left alone, in an unfamiliar place, with no guide and people around her. She shivers at the wind but pulls herself together and stands up. She can't give up. She won't give up.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)  
> Kudos or/and comments make me write more :)


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